Winding down

Was told that a mortar hit Ali Al Salem this morning. I was asleep and didn't hear anything. It's surprising, however, that it happened here in Kuwait.

The person who told me works as a contractor repairing Chinnooks. I've seen quite a few Blacks working in Iraq as contractors, and doing all sorts of jobs. Most work for Kellogg Brown & Root, which seems to be involved in almost every kind of support service. Unfortunately, its tough getting KBR's people to talk because the company, from what I'm told, has issued a gag order.

I also ran into a man from Ghana working in Iraq as a contractor. He said there are a lot of Africans working in the country also, mainly from Uganda and Sudan. Obviously, the draw is the money. The Ghanian said he makes 10 times what he made at home. He has been here two years and plans to stay for an additional one.

Whoever doesn't believe the financial impact of occupation, should spend some time over here. The occupation has obviously been a boon for KBR, but its just as much a boon for the Kurdish, Indian, Turkish and Pakistani workers and vendors who benefit from soldiers being here. One of the employees at a Green Beans Coffee outlet, who is Indian, told me he makes about $1,300 monthly, which he could never make in India.

Of course, one of my surprises is that I see very few Iraqis, other than Kurds, working in high-visibility jobs on the bases. At Q-West, there is a labor pool for jobs like carpentry and painting that employs Iraqis. But you don't see any working in the dining facilities or, other than Kurds, running any of the shops.

Anyway, it's late and I must sleep. I fly home Sunday a.m., so I'll spend part of tomorrow doing some mop-up work early. Afterwards, I'm just going to relax over some coffee, maybe haggle over prices with some of the Indian vendors on base and find somewhere quiet to watch the sunset -- if the clouds aren't hiding it.